March 07, 2005

Oh, be careful little hand what you write ...

Post at your own risk? I ran across an article this morning. The piece points out that

Currently, some 27 percent of online U.S. adults read blogs, and 7 percent pen them, according to The Pew Internet and American Life Project.

With search engines making it easy to find virtually anything anyone says in a blog these days, companies are taking notice — and taking action.

Those of you who are more experienced at blogging than I am are probably already aware that there is even a term for getting fired for blogging -- dooced. In fact, I was surprised to find numerous blogs addressing the subject of dooce dodging.

However, it further notes that companies have had some problems in developing specific policies related to blogging.

Christopher Cobey, an employment lawyer at the Littler Mendelson law firm's Silicon Valley office, said publicity over recent blog-related firings has prompted increased inquiries from companies about developing policies.

But some experts question whether a separate blogging policy is needed at all, given more general employment guidelines and common sense.

Anil Dash, vice president at blog software developer Six Apart Ltd., said publicized firings have been generally not over blogging but over other violations that happened to be done through blogging.

Mark Dichter, chairman of labor and employment at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, said policies can tie the hands of employers.

"It requires you to anticipate and draw lines," he said, "and once you set policies then you get into litigation into which side of the line it fell."

Also of interest are articles and programs about blogger freedom. It's something to think about -- and, of course, to post about, right?

Posted by Susan R at March 7, 2005 10:27 AM
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